I cared nothing for baseball until I watched Andy Pettitte pitch during the 1996 World Series. Then I watched poetry in pinstriped Spandex motion. The poise, the gracefulness, the clean movement....He stood in sharp contrast to the tubby, 4-o'clock-shadowed, gum-chewing slobs in need of haircuts. He brought art to the game.

Suddenly, this great American game had a place in my life. Next thing I knew, my husband bought me one of his autographed balls. My brother-in-law gave me a 16X20 portrait. Another friend bought me not one but two Andy Pettitte T-shirts.

Now that he's back in New York, we see Newton's First Law of Physics (what goes around comes around) come home to roost in Steinbrenner's little barnyard. Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman has called Pettitte the Perfect Employee. All I can say is, bring on the perfection. And Amen.